


Under Water

by stars1445



Category: Animal Kingdom (TV)
Genre: First Kiss, M/M, Teen Angst, Teen Crush, Teenagers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-16
Updated: 2018-09-16
Packaged: 2019-07-11 02:33:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15962837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stars1445/pseuds/stars1445
Summary: Glimpses of Adrian's memories from growing up with Deran.





	Under Water

 

_Deran was the first person he kissed. As in, properly kissed, not the awkward kisses he’d shared with girlfriends as a kid because they’d seen grown ups doing it. They were 16, alone in somebody’s living room, and the stereo was playing Kings of Leon on repeat. (The last bit Adrian remembered especially because of how Deran insisted on pointing out how shit they were.)_

 

**_2008.07_ **

 

It was a night of smoking weed and drinking after a day on the beach, and a bunch of people had ended up sitting on the floor, pillows thrown down from the sofa, forming some kind of circle around a bottle they were spinning. It had started as a joke but as it went on more and more people were excitedly screaming or leaning into each other to avoid whatever dare would be thrown at them. Adrian sat next to Deran, close together in a way that made his chest warm. The sensation of not being sober, the way everything seemed warmer, more feasible, had somehow nestled its way into the lack of space between them. It was a dangerous thing, he noted somewhere in the back of his mind. Still he couldn't seem to muster enough energy to really do something about it.

Some guys they didn’t know seemed to be getting high for the first time, something that clearly made Derans skin crawl. They looked like they were from somewhere else, a little too polished, rich kids who had intentionally ended up on the wrong side of town to rebel against their parents. One of them lifted his t-shirt to show one of the girls a fresh tattoo, so small she had to come inches away in order to see it. Deran looked at Adrian, rolling his eyes. Adrian smiled. Someone spinned the bottle again and the girl who it pointed at hid her face in her hands, protesting.

“Ok, listen…” The guy responsible for the spinning looked around, searching the room until his face lit up. “You have to go outside and jump naked into the ocean right now.”

People started laughing, cheering them on. Deran was one of them. Adrian couldn’t be bothered. He was just relieved that he wasn’t the victim of it all, knowing his friends and that they’d never give up once they’d gotten something into their heads. Sure enough, after a few minutes they were all heading outside, the girl making it very clear that she would go into the ocean but she’d be wearing her clothes, to which they all objected loudly.

No one noticed when Adrian stayed behind, and he was expecting to be left alone, maybe join them in a little while, maybe not. Then Deran turned around in the doorway.

“Are you not coming?” He said.

Adrian shook his head. Mind fuzzy from beer and weed, rather than making some excuse, he settled at that, taking for granted that Deran would shrug and walk off. Instead he came back, sat down next to him, and reached for a cigarette.

“Yeah I’m pretty over it too.” He said.

“Yeah?”

Adrian watched Deran’s hands as he lit his cigarette, and tilted his head backwards against the sofa table behind them. His movements seemed so well practiced that it always reminded Adrian of someone much older, someone who'd spent a whole lifetime doing them. He adjusted his position on the pillow - now that the room was emptied and the noise of the people gone distant, it was becoming clear to him how drunk he really was. The whole room was spinning, and he was finding it difficult to keep his focus.

“You were out early today.” He said, to say something.

“So were you, as usual. Are you going pro or something?” Deran side-eyed him, stroking his hair back, and as he put his hand down again, it fell next to Adrian’s. He let it stay there, despite it being a little out of a position that seemed natural. 

“No man. I just felt like getting out there. It’s like a free zone, you know? Away from everything... Your mind kind of clears up.”

Hearing his own drunk talk he half expected Deran to make fun of him, but he didn’t. Rather he seemed to be taking in his words, as if they made sense. Sometimes it felt like he was the only one who actually gave a damn about anything Adrian was saying.

Breathing out a cloud of smoke, he leaned forward and put his cigarette out on the carpet with a burn.

"I kind of feel like sleeping here." He said.

Adrian let out a laugh at the randomness.

“Really?”

“Beats going home right now and trying to free your bed from some junkies screwing each other.”

“They’re having a party?”

“Someone probably is.”

"I don't know what's worse, your mom or my dad..." Adrian said quietly. 

As soon as he said it he saw Deran pause, like he had hit a button that stopped everything for a nano-second. He knew that look from before.

"Anyway they're not home." He hurried to continue.

"Who?" 

"My parents. They went away for the weekend. Me and Jess have the house to ourselves but _God forbid they notice anything missing or broken_..." He mimicked his mom's voice at the end.

"So we could crash there then?" Deran said. 

He turned to look at Adrian, and in the vague lighting of the room you could only just make out the blue in his eyes. He looked like he mostly did, inscrutable, airy. The way he looked when he knew he was unthreatened.

“I guess.” Adrian said.

Deran kept looking at him, until Adrian felt his palms starting to sweat. He swallowed, sensing that whatever he was trying to hide, it wasn't really working. Then Deran leaned over, pausing for a while watching his lips, and kissed him. Adrian sank down in the floor, somehow floating at the same time, a rush taking over the drowsiness making him feel like he was wide awake.

It only lasted a few seconds. When the sound of screaming and laughter grew closer, Deran pulled away, and the next second people came running into the room, throwing pillows at them ( _what the fuck are you still doing here you shitheads_?). Adrian took the pillow that had landed on his chest and threw it back, barely registering Deran jumping up and joining the others. He was going to do the same, but allowed himself to close his eyes, only for a moment. Within minutes everyone’s voices became distant and incomprehensible, more and more so until he actually dozed off.

 *

He woke up a few hours later to a room full of crashed drunk people, all quiet except for someone snoring from behind the couch. The air was frowzy. He got up, heart beating faster the more he remembered.  _Shit_. The word was written in red all over his mind. He quickly scanned the room, although he didn't really need to. Deran wasn't there. With a slight feeling of dizziness from still being a little drunk, he sneaked out of the house quietly, eager to get out of the mess before someone could force him to help clean it up.

Outside and out of sight, he took out his phone from his back pocket. 4 missed calls and 3 voicemails. All of them from his mom. He put the phone back, telling himself he didn't care. At least he could pretend not to for a while, until he'd eventually have to put himself together enough to call back, and the yelling would start.

Walking home in the early morning, despite everything, the fear of not knowing what had happened or was going to happen, he felt like he could have ran all the way there without getting out of breath.


End file.
